Meditations of a Commuter - Stories

mahler in-transitus

 I have always relished the sense of detachment and objectivity that commuting and traveling can bring. Being in transit can make it easier to be an alert and more objective observer, allowing us to appreciate the beautiful experiences with a sense of necessary separation, while being keenly aware that the journey is temporary and will come to an end. If we can experience everyday of our lives as a wide-eyed traveler, we can enjoy life’s many gifts while they last, and at the same time not be devastated by its inevitable disappointments and unavoidable finalities. Thus, we can be more balanced and truly in the world, but not of it. Nothing in this world lasts—we are all commuters or travelers in this life. Beginnings and endings are part of life, and birth and death are natural and necessary parts of the cycle of life, parts of the recycling and transformation of energy and consciousness. All travelers and commuters know that at some point the journey eventually comes to an end, and that the time comes to return home. When our commuting in this life comes to end, we simply dissolve back into the essence from whence we came, back into the quiet, still presence.